One approach to efficiently store data is to prevent the redundant copying of data that are the same as something previously stored (e.g., data that is to be stored on a backup drive that has stayed the same between backups). This efficient storage is achieved by dividing the data streams from data sources into segments and storing the segments or a reference to a similar segment and a delta on a storage device. During subsequent storage operations, the data streams are again segmented and the data stream segments are looked up in an index to determine whether a similar data segment was already stored previously. If a similar segment is found, the data segment is not stored again, instead a reference to the similar segment and a difference between the stored segment and the data stream segment are stored; Otherwise, the new data segment and a new index identifier are stored. However, in order to calculate the difference between the similar stored segment and the new segment requires reading back the similar stored segment. This can cause performance issues with regard to the storage device and traffic to and from the storage device. It would be beneficial if performance could be maintained or improved without sacrificing storage efficiency. Similarly, when sending similar segments over a network to a remote machine, computing the delta between the new segment and a similar segment stored remotely can require sending the full segment over the network which is expensive in terms of network bandwidth. It would be beneficial if performance could be maintained or improved without sacrificing transmission efficiency.